List building for success

BY ALEC STERN

You might put together the best-looking and most compelling e-mail campaigns ever, but without a permission-based list of people to receive them, your messages will go unseen. Fortunately, there are a number of simple ways to build and maintain your contact list so you can reach the people your business or organization covets the most: Your loyal customers and members.

One thing you can do is simply ask people to join your list. When your customers or members come into your business or attend your events, are you telling them about your mailing list and asking for their e-mail address? Letting them walk out the door without asking is equivalent to losing a valuable asset.

For businesses or organizations with multiple staff members, give your team an incentive to ask. I recommend making it a contest to see how many e-mail address one can collect over a given shift or time period. Everyone likes to win, so make a game of collecting email addresses.

You should also advertise the availability of your newsletter throughout your establishment or event venue. Put placards on tables, a signup book by the register, and signs on the walls. At your event, ask people when they check-in or register if they would like to be added to your e-mail list.

Customers will give you their e-mail address more often than not; you just have to ask for it. ■

Alec Stern is VP, Strategic Market Development, for Constant Contact. He can be reached at astern@constantcontact.com or (781) 472-8142.


Published in Cape & Plymouth Business April 2010